In 2013 a plethora of underground hip-hop artists took center stage from Chance The Rapper to Danny Brown, unearthing a world of aspiring talented artists trying to make a name for themselves through free mixtapes promoted on the internet.
Some of that local talent surfaces once a month when Athens rappers get together for The Hip-Hop Shop. April’s event will take place Thursday as local rappers step up to the mic before featured artist Tony “G. Finesse” Haslett out of Columbus takes the stage.
G. Finesse has been working the Columbus music scene since 2009 along side his band the N.S. However, the rapper is taking a departure from the band for the time being to promote his new solo album
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“This will be my first actual solo venture,” Finesse said. “I tried to use a lot of melodic sound bites a lot of stuff pleasing to the ear. … The whole theme of it is just real heartfelt hip-hop.”
Finesse uses the album to talk about his struggles growing up in Columbus and from a “broken home,” using R&B infused beats to set the mood.
“I went from halfway being a musician … halfway being a hustler, I’ve got friends that got killed, I’ve got friends that got locked up,” Finesse said. “Everything I’m doing right now is a testament to my hard work and wanting to change my situation, having people around that believed in me enough to help me change my situation.”
This will be Finesses first performance at the Athens Hip-Hop shop but it’s certainly not his first time in Athens, having collaborated frequently with the shop’s current operator and DJ Ryan “MC Schwartz” and former operator Hil Hackworth.
“I used to perform with G. Finesse a little bit when I’d go up to Columbus,” Hackworth said. “He’s been spitting really good stuff ever since I can remember and he tells it like it is. … It’s cool that he’s coming down here to hang out in Athens and perform some of his stuff.”
Hackworth is on leave from performing and operating the event after a near-fatal car accident. Now, Schwartz has taken up the mantle, both booking the show and running the tables — a task he’s not yet totally adapted to.
Schwartz said he was thrown into the DJing slot after Hackworth’s accident and has been slow to pick up the craft, but he’s improving.
“He’s got more of a background with it even than I did,” Hackworth said. “Schwartz and I may not be DJs at heart and we may not have all the equipment and all the know how that DJs would respect, but you know, as long as you can keep the party going and keep the atmosphere alive that’s all it takes.
If You Go
What: Hip-Hop Shop featuring G. Finesse
When: 9 p.m. Thursday
Where: The Union, 18 W. Union St.
Admission: Free
@Wilbur_Hoffman
wh092010@ohiou.edu
